Class 4A Upper State Final Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When the Upper State 4A bracket came out, there was a general consensus out there that No. 1 Greenville (9-3) and No. 2 Northwestern (11-1) would meet up. And now it's here with a birth in next Saturday's state championship on the line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Since an early non-region loss at home to Gaffney, Northwestern has been riding a hot streak that has to do with an improved defense, who has only allowed 9.3 points per game in the playoffs, rolling over Wade Hampton, Greenwood and Westside. <strong>Jamarr Perry </strong>has five interceptions on the year and will look to add to that number this week. Keep an eye on <strong>Jayden Woods </strong>and <strong>Justin Spencer, </strong>as they recorded interceptions last week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Trojans' offense hasn't been held under 50 points throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='265222' first='Turbo' last='Richard']</strong> broke the single season rushing record previously held by Jeff Burris in 1989 <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2022/11/what-we-saw-northwestern-59-westside-21/">last week against Westside</a> and is hard to bring down in between the tackles led up front by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='89343' first='Jordan' last='Knox']</strong>. But if you've get too caught up trying to stop him, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='241044' first='Finley' last='Polk'], </strong>who has thrown for 2916 yards and 33 touchdowns and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='146372' first='Elijah' last='Caldwell'] </strong>has caught 17 touchdowns and 1233 yards on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greenville started their season out 0-3, but they've also found their rhythm and haven't lost a game since. The Red Raiders are averaging 49 points per game and are led by sophomore quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='349806' first='Bryson' last='Drummond'], </strong>who excels throwing the ball on the run and letting his receivers make plays. Speaking of receivers, Greenville has two Division 1 wide receivers, <strong>Mazeo Bennett </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='91149' first='Tyler' last='Brown']. </strong>This will be the duo's best secondary they've played outside of South Pointe in the second round two weeks ago.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In Greenville's last two games against the Stallions and Catawba Ridge, they've gotten off to a fast start defensively. <strong>Thomas Edmondson </strong>is an aggressive linebacker who will look to be all around the football on Friday. Keep an eye on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='89334' first='Luke' last='Schuller'] </strong>and <strong>Noah Wallace </strong>as well. The Red Raiders forced three turnovers last week against Catawba Ridge, and whichever team can avoid the critical mistakes and execute offensively will win this one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Edge: Northwestern</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->